It is with some degree of trepidation that I take up my pen to write this. As a newcomer to wargaming with only two months experience behind me, there are those who would say, and perhaps justifiably so, that I have neither the right nor the experience to write about the finer arts of wargaming. To some extent I would agree with them but I thought that perhaps for once it would be valuable to see the other side of the coin - instead of sitting back and allowing the "old hands" to spout words of wisdom it might be advantageous to hear the impressions of a complete newcomer. I had long been interested in the possibility of fighting battles with model soldiers but it came as quite a shock for me to see just how well organised the hobby was. I had expected a number of individuals up and down the country to be enthusiasts but I was quite unprepared for the various clubs and societies, Newsletters, journals and books which all deal with wargaming. May I say now that in my humble opinion Newsletter is by far the best of all the ones I have come across and I find that I tend to read it on the day it arrives and spend the next thirty days eagerly awaiting the next copy. One of the first things I had to do on taking up the hobby was to choose an area to which I could devote the majority of my wargaming interest. My idea is that I can build up and operate in one period, and expand into other areas, centuries, etc., later on when I gain more experience. I chose the American Civil War for my initial experiments. The reasons for this are many and varied but apart from the fact that it is a conflict which has always fascinated me, the main reason was that during the American Civil War there took place over 2,000 battles or skirmishes. These varied from tiny cavalry actions to such devastating and tragic affairs as Gettysburg, involving raids into enemy territory, battles for bridges, river crossings, railways and 80 on. Unlike later wars it was a war of movement in the old sense and at the same time involving modern weapons and machinery. All of this provides ample scope for the wargamer. Also the figures are quite easy to obtain. The Airfix 20mm, or more correctly I Suppose 25mm figures come up really excellently when painted and with sets of Union and Confederate Infantry, cavalry and artillery, they have a wide enough range to provide at least a basis for further development. When these sets are added to with standard bearers, gatling guns, etc., obtainable from such firms as Miniature Figurines, they look really effective. Also the Civil War was the first of the modern wars and soldiers were less keen to wear bright colours which would make them easy targets for snipers. Thus there was always some degree of discrepancy in the colours worn and the uniforms, although mainly blues and greys, were not always completely 'uniform' throughout the armies. So one is therefore given some degree of laxity in painting the figures. I hope that these random thoughts have not proved too boring and that no one immediately jumps up to say "What right has he..." Let me conclude by saying that although I an a complete newcomer to wargaming I am as dedicated to the hobby an someone who has been fighting wargames for forty years. Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 105 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1970 by Donald Featherstone. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com